Derek Holland signs a one-year deal with a club option for 2020

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA – AUGUST 26: Derek Holland #45 of the San Francisco Giants pitches against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at AT&T Park on August 26, 2018 in San Francisco, California. All players across MLB will wear nicknames on their backs as well as colorful, non traditional uniforms featuring alternate designs inspired by youth-league uniforms during Players Weekend. (Photo by Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO–Derek Holland wanted to return to the Giants. He just had to wait a little longer than he anticipated.

Holland, 32, agreed to a one-year deal with a club option for the 2020 season to rejoin the Giants, the team announced Monday.

The Giants will pay Holland a base salary of $6.5 million in 2019 with a $6.5 million club option or $500,000 buyout for the 2020 season, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. San Francisco has also added incentives to Holland’s contract based on the number of starts he makes next year.

“It was just an easy decision to come back,” Holland said on a conference call Monday. “These guys helped me, basically I looked at it as resurrecting my career.”

After struggling through one of the worst seasons of his career in 2017 with the White Sox, Holland signed a minor league deal with San Francisco last offseason and won a roster spot during spring training. The veteran left-hander wound up leading the Giants in innings and posted a 3.57 ERA while emerging as the most consistent member of the team’s rotation.

Though Holland battled injuries and command issues during the prime seasons of his career, a partnership with Giants pitching coach Curt Young helped Holland get his career back on track in San Francisco. Young helped move Holland from the third base side of the rubber to the first base side, a transition that helped Holland become more effective as he finished the 2018 season with a 3.20 ERA over his final 31 games.

“As a veteran guy, something that you’ve got to be willing to do is try new things,” Holland said. “Because you’re not going to be the same pitcher you were at the time before.”

Holland is the most significant addition to date under new president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who has prioritized versatility and flexibility in shaping the Giants’ roster. Aside from succeeding in a variety of roles, Holland also impressed the Giants with his willingness to embrace a team-first mentality.

“Everybody spoke so highly of Derek and the job that he did for us last year so we’ve been in touch with his representation throughout the offseason,” Zaidi said. “Like Derek, I’m really excited we figured out a way to bring him back.”

In his first season with the club, Holland showcased an ability to move back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen and pitch with inconsistent rest between outings. Manager Bruce Bochy consistently lauded Holland for his professionalism and teammates acknowledged Holland played a key role in improving clubhouse chemistry.

“We used him in the bullpen, he was all in on that,” Bochy said. “He’d start and say the next day, ‘I’m good to go.’ He is so popular in the clubhouse too and he had some intangibles that we really liked too to go along with the body of work he gave us.”

Even as the Giants limped to the finish line last season, Holland reiterated his desire to rejoin the club so he could continue to work with Bochy and Young. Though the Texas Rangers and Cincinnati Reds also expressed interest in the left-hander this offseason, Holland will return to San Francisco where he posted career-bests in strikeouts per nine innings (8.9) and hits allowed per nine innings (8.1).

With Holland in the fold, the Giants have a full 40-man roster and a better idea of what a spring competition for rotation spots will look like.

Madison Bumgarner is still a candidate to be traded, but will serve as the Opening Day starter if he remains healthy and with the Giants through spring training. Outside of Bumgarner, Holland joins a largely inexperienced group competing for jobs featuring Dereck Rodríguez, Andrew Suárez and Chris Stratton as well as veteran Jeff Samardzija, who is recovering from a shoulder injury that forced him to miss the second half of the 2018 season.

Though Zaidi and Bochy have discussed the possibility of using alternative pitching strategies or “openers” to protect the health of their young arms, the Giants view Holland as a reliable force who can be penciled in to start every fifth day.

Even with the addition of Holland, however, Zaidi said acquiring more starting pitchers through trades or free agency remains a priority for the Giants this offseason.

“It takes more than five guys to get through a 162-game season,” Zaidi said. “Trading for starting pitchers that are optionable and have that flexibility, that’s a very prized asset around the league and it’s tough to acquire but we’re trying to stay active with that.”

Kerry Crowley is a multimedia beat reporter covering the San Francisco Giants. He spent his early days throwing curveballs in San Francisco’s youth leagues before studying journalism at Arizona State University. Kerry has covered every level of baseball, from local preps to the Cape Cod League, and is now on a quest to determine which Major League city serves the best cheeseburger.